1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a plate metal member for forming a bus bar of an electrical junction box mounted on a vehicle or the like as a moving object, to the bus bar and to the electrical junction box having the bus bar.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various electronic devices such as a head lamp, a tail lamp, a starter motor, and an air conditioner motor are mounted on a vehicle as a moving object.
A junction block is arranged at a proper position in a vehicle for supplying electric power to the various electronic devices. Various electric circuit units composed of fuses, relays or the like are gathered in the junction block.
Incidentally, because the junction box includes fuses, relays, or bus bars, the junction box is also referred as a fuse block, a relay box, or collectively referred to as an electrical junction box. In this embodiment, the fuse block, the relay box, and the junction block are collectively referred to as the electrical junction box (for example, see Patent Literature 1).
A conventional electrical junction box such as disclosed in Patent Literature 1 includes: a box main body of which top wall electric components such as relay, fuse are mounted on, and of which bottom wall a connector of a wiring harness is mounted on a bus bar 100 (shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B) attached to the box main body, and connecting terminals of the electric component with terminals of the connector of the wiring harness according to a predetermined pattern; an upper cover covering the top wall of the box main body; and a lower cover covering the bottom wall of the box main body. Further, a power cable for supplying electric power from a battery or a generator of a vehicle is attached to the box main body.
In the electrical junction box, electric power from a power source is supplied to the power cable, branched by a cable or the bus bar 100, passed via the fuse and the relay, and then supplied to various electronic devices via electric wires of the wiring harness.
For example, as shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the bus bar 100 integrally includes: a first terminal portion 101 connected to the fuse; a second terminal portion 102 connected to the relay; and a coupling portion 103 coupling the first and second terminal portions 101, 102 together.
The first terminal portion 101 integrally includes: a first terminal 104 connected to a terminal of the fuse; and a base portion 105 continued to a base end of the first terminal 104 and extended straight. The first terminal 104 is extended vertically from one edge in a width direction of the base portion 105. Further, both surfaces of the first terminal 104 and the base portion 105 are provided on the same plane.
The coupling portion 103 is formed in a band shape extended straight. The coupling portion 103 is continued to one end of the base portion 105 of the first terminal 104, and a longitudinal direction of the coupling portion 103 is crossed to a longitudinal direction of the base portion 105. According to an example shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the coupling portion 103 is extended from the base portion 105 of the first terminal portion 101 to a direction away from both the first terminal portion 101 and the base portion 105. Further, a surface of the coupling portion 103 is provided on the same plane as both surfaces of the first terminal 104 and the base portion 105.
The second terminal portion 102 integrally includes: a plurality of second terminals 106 connected to terminals of the relay and extended parallel to each other; and a base portion 107 continued to base ends of the second terminals 106 and extended straight. The second terminals 106 are extended vertically from one edge in a width direction of the base portion 107 in a same direction as the first terminal 104. Further, both surfaces of the second terminals 106 and the base portion 107 are provided on the same plane. The base portion 107 is continued to an end of the coupling portion 103 away from the first terminal 104, and bent from the coupling portion 103. According to the example shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the base portion 107, namely, the second terminal portion 102 is bent substantially 90 degrees from the coupling portion 103.
The above bus bar 100 is made by punching a long metal plate, by providing integrally a first corresponding portion 111 corresponding to the first terminal portion 101, a coupling corresponding portion 113 corresponding to the coupling portion 103, and a second corresponding portion 112 corresponding to the second terminal portion 102, and by bending 90 degrees a plate-shaped plate metal member 110 (shown in FIG. 7) at a boundary between the coupling corresponding portion 113 and the second corresponding portion 112. Namely, in the plate metal member 110, the second corresponding portion 112 is continued to an edge away from the first corresponding portion 111 in a width direction of the coupling corresponding portion 113.